Origami Fun!

 

Disclosure: I was sent these books and packs of paper in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wow, what a turn in the women's gymnastics the other day. I have to say I am happy that Simone Biles felt confident enough to walk away from the competition. She is a role model for our children. She knew she wasn't feeling right and stepped away. That takes courage and confidence. And it highlights the need to focus on mental health. The pressure she must have been feeling with all the press and such before and during the Olympics must have been awful, so knowing when to step away is huge in my mind. 

With the Olympics in Tokyo, we are continuing a focus on Japan. And a look at Japan is not complete without some origami. Today I am sharing two books--one for beginners and another for more advanced as well as four packs/books of origami paper. We will start first by looking at the packs of paper I used throughout this post. They are Origami Rainbow Paper Pack Book, Origami Paper 200 Sheets Mother Earth Photos 6" (15 cm), Origami Paper 500 Sheets Cherry Blossoms 6" (15 cm), and Origami Paper 200 Sheets Nature Photos 8 1/4" (21 cm).

Japanese Food Ideas: Bento Boxes & Sushi

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Have you been watching the Olympics? This year is the first time I have really watched in a long time. I love watching the women's gymnastics but always hated how it was shown so late. I love the live streaming videos that I can watch any time. With the Summer Games in Tokyo and where spectators are not allowed, I thought it was the perfect time to explore Tokyo and Japan. Today I'm going to share some cookbooks to bring home a bit of the Japanese culture with food and it is food your kids may enjoy! These books are also perfect for getting ready for school lunches, parties and more! We will start with Ultimate Bento by Marc Matsumoto and Maki Ogawa. 

Japanese Artwork inspired by the World's First Novel Jigsaw Puzzle

 

Disclosure: I was sent a this puzzle in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have been loving my puzzles but I am also loving learning about the picture on the puzzle. Today's puzzle is a woodblock print by Kuniteru Utagawa called Song of the Four Seasons: Summer created in 1853. It depicts a scene from the famous novel, The Tale of Genji written by Murasaki Shikibu. The Tale of Genji is considered to be the first novel in the world. It was written in the 11th century. You can learn more about the novel here. The picture on the puzzle is of Prince Genji with his companions in a Japanese garden on a summer's evening. 

Fun Summer Learning Resources

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Last February we found an amazing school to switch Hazel to. They have a spring break in March that lasts for two weeks. Hazel was supposed to start right after the break, but the pandemic hit and our state closed down. Her school started after that break with remote learning for last year. This year however they went in person with the daily choice of a student going remote. Although it has been a strange year, it has been an amazing year. Hazel has so much more confidence. She is standing up straighter and just overall happier. Finding the right school makes so much difference and we didn't really realize it until this year. Today is her last day of school and summer begins! Now since she has been learning in person she is not one of the kids that has lost so much during the pandemic. However I know there are many kids who have. I see the posts and articles with the concerns of what kids lost this year, will they be behind, etc. I also know there are people who are looking for ways to help catch them up this summer. My advice is to find fun ways to help them catch up and learn something new. Today I am going to share some books that will do just this. The first book is Top Secret: Spies, Codes, Capers, Gadgets, and Classified Cases Revealed by Crispin Boyer and Suzanne Zimbler. 

Blue & White Crafts with Japanese Influence and More!

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these products in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

I have always loved blue and white crafts. The colors just contrast and make beautiful images. Today I am going to share some blue and white inspired crafts and most have a Japanese influence to them. Let's start with the one that is not a craft but has pictures of Japanese Shibori on them. They are Japanese Shibori Note Cards. 

Exploring Japan with Books & Activities

 

Disclosure: I was sent these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Since Monday was Memorial Day and I spent the weekend with family and friends I didn't do my multicultural post this week. Today I am going to share some of the resources I have to explore Japan. I know Japan will be a popular country to look at this summer with the Olympics being held in Tokyo. We will start with All About Japan by Willamarie Moore and illustrated by Kazumi Wilds. 

Interesting Facts about Samurai and Himeji Castle Jigsaw Puzzle Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent this puzzle in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I am going to share another 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. It is a beautiful photograph from Japan. It is the Samurai Castle and Cherry Blossoms 1,000-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle. 

Interesting Facts & Benefits of Clover with Craft & Recipe Round-Up

 

Last week we had so much fun learning about dandelions. It is amazing that what many consider a weed can do for your yard as well as food! This week I thought I would look at another wildflower or weed. We will look at clovers! I found many interesting things about clovers. Now many people associate clover with St. Patrick's Day. However for me it is a spring/summer thing because we have so much in our yard and the rabbits come out to eat it.

Wabi Sabi--Learning about Embracing Imperfection

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have a confession to make. I have been meaning to share today's book with you for over a month but I keep picking it up and then reading something else because of time constraints. However I am very excited to share it with you. I will admit I have not completely finished it and will do so because it is so interesting. The book is Wabi Sabi: The Wisdom in Imperfection by Nobuo Suzuki. 

Women in World War II

 

Today we are going to look at some of the American women who made a difference during World War II. Women's rights had progressed between the two world wars as well as progress in technology. By World War II women were pilots. Computers were introduced to the mix. And of course there were the nurses and spies. Once again my go to book is Heroism Begins with Her by Winifred Conkling. I will be sharing additional sources as well as books (mostly children's) about each of the amazing women I will share. 

Women in Wars -- Introduction-- Women's History Month

 

As I thought about Women's History Month I knew I wanted to really touch on women in history that may be forgotten. Today women are members of the Armed Forces, but not that long ago they were not allowed. I decided I would focus on women who played important roles in wars. This month I will share about women in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and the two World Wars. Today I thought I would start with some women who fought wars before America was a country. I have focused on the legend of Mulan in the past. She is one of the women who reportedly disguised herself as a man to fight in a war. Then there was the Greek goddess, Athena, who was the goddess of war, as well as the Amazons, the race of women warriors in Greek mythology. Even the Aztecs had a warrior goddess, Itzpapalotl. Then we know of Joan of Arc and how she led the French army through battles. And we shared about Artemisia in the past. Today let's talk about some of the other women you may not have heard about that fought in real wars and battles. As I started researching women in wars I found The Book of Heroines: Tales of History's Gutsiest Gals by Stephanie Warren Drimmer. All of the women, goddesses and legends mentioned in this post are featured in this book. This book is one of the sources for my entire post. I will list others that I used to find out more about the women and share books for kids when possible. (Note: I have not checked out these books but found them searching my local library website and Amazon.)

A Book to Teach Myself Some New Knitting Stitches

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Do you knit? I am a simple knit kind of girl. I tend to do things that don't require much of a pattern. I also tend to only do things that need me to knit and purl. I don't even change colors and really think of myself as a beginner even though I have been knitting for decades. For my Mommy Time Post I thought I would share a resource that has been helping me expand my knitting talent or at least trying to. The resource is Japanese Wonder Knitting by Nihon Vogue.

Craft Books Galore! Review and Round-Up of Craft Books--Quilting, Embroidery, Paper Quilling, Origami, Knitting and more!

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books and kits in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of products that you purchase through them. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

As I have been doing the last few weeks I am trying to share all my books with you before Christmas. Although it is getting late now to order you can still get some by Christmas. So today I am sharing three craft books with you and then a round-up of the craft books I have to review still. We are going to start with our craft space and organizing it! 

Crafty Stay-cation Activities -- Crafty Sunday Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have missed the last two Crafty Sundays because we were having a staycation. We had a wonderful week and I thought I would share with you some of our activities and ideas for a staycation especially the ones on the crafty side. My birthday fell on during the week and it was the big 50. My sister came and made me a birthday cake and dinner with her wonderful assistant, Hazel. It was a lovely social distant celebration. Then we set up a puzzle to work on for the week. I finally finished it except for the two pieces I somehow lost. Ugh! I always do that. The puzzle is Mount Fuji Japan Jigsaw Puzzle. I love setting up a puzzle and having it to work on with my family. We like to do this when we vacation at the Cape as well. 

The Discovery of Anime & Manga Review as part of our Explore Japan

Disclosure: I was sent a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Back in May we explored Japan with various posts to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Due to one of those posts Immedium contacted me asking if I would be interested in reviewing their newest in The Asian Hall of Fame Series, The Discovery of Anime and Manga by Phil Amara and Oliver Chin and illustrated by Juan Calle. I have reviewed many books from Immedium previously and have enjoyed them.

Exploring Japan Part 4 -- Fun Facts & Resource Round-Up

For the last three Mondays we have been exploring Japan. We started with some picture books, then looked at crafts and artists and then origami. Today we are looking at fun facts about Japan and doing a resource and activity round-up. But first some facts about Japan itself. Japan is called Nihon or Nippon in Japanese. It means "land of the rising sun". It was once believed that Japan was the first country to see the sun each morning. The country is made up of 6,582 islands, but has four main islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Three tectonic plates meet near Japan and cause many earthquakes. Japan experiences 1,000 earthquakes in a year. Some of these cause tsunamis. There are also 200 volcanoes in Japan. Sixty of them are still active. Almost three quarters of the land is covered by mountains and forest which make the land hard to farm or use for industry or residential. The Japanese Alps run down the center of the island of Honshu. Mount Fuji is the highest mountain/volcano in Japan and is considered sacred by many Japanese people. 

Origami: Fun Facts, Product Reviews & Craft Round-Up

Disclosure: I was sent these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

We are on our third week of exploring Japan for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. If you missed our first two weeks we did new picture books to learn about Japan and crafts from Japan. Today we are taking a look at the ancient art of Japanese origami. I thought I would start with some fun facts since I shared a bit about the history of origami a few years ago. 

Japanese Arts, Crafts and their Makers

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This month is Asian Pacific Heritage Month and to celebrate it we are looking at Japan all month long for Multicultural Mondays. Last week we started with two picture books including one on the creation myth in Japan. Today we are going to look at the crafts and craftsmen/women of Japan as well as a round-up of Japanese-inspired crafts and artists. To begin this post I am sharing a new book that is being released tomorrow (May 12, 2020). It is Craftland Japan by Uwe Röttgen and Katharina Zetti.

Learning about Japan for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Week 1

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wow, April was a bit of a strange month with the stay at home order. It is hard to believe it is May. Our weather is finally starting to warm back up. April was the coldest April on record here and until this weekend our warmest day in 2020 was in January! May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Multicultural Kid Blogs has stopped doing its monthly heritage month series but I still wanted to share about it. So this year as I looked at my resources (aka my review shelf) I noticed a definite theme of Japan. So I am going to try to post on Mondays sharing different resources on Japan and Japanese culture. And it makes the most sense to begin with well the beginning. So our first book today is Kojiki: The Birth of Japan by Kazumi Wilds. 

The Complete Story of Sadako Sasaki and the Thousand Paper Cranes -- A Look at the Other Side of WWII and the Atomic Bomb

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book and the various packs of origami paper in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Yesterday I shared various chapter books for different ages (7-young adult). I saved this book to be in its own post for several reasons. First it is a true story. Second part of the story reminds me of what we are facing today. I felt I wanted to do more with this book than just review it. It has paper cranes in the title and provides a tutorial at the end of the book to make your own paper cranes. I figured I had to pull out the piles of origami paper I have and start making some cranes. While I sat there making the cranes I realized this was something families could do together. I'll explain more at the end of the post. The book is The Complete Story of Sadako Sasaki and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Sue DiCicco and Mashairo Sasaki (Sadako's brother). It is recommended for ages 7 to 12.